Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024: 'India Will Benefit From Rupinder Pal Singh's Lessons,' Says India Coach Janneke Schopman

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The stage is set. The quest to secure a spot for the Paris Olympics starts tomorrow (January 13). India women's hockey team will play their first match against the USA at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf in Ranchi.

Before the mega contest, the chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team, Janneke Schopman, spoke about former Indian drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh, who attended a session with her team in Bengaluru last month.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist worked with the women's side for five days to address its penalty corner conversion challenges ahead of the Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.

The conversion of penalty corners has been a concern for the Indian women's hockey team. Despite winning the Asian Champions Trophy last year, the Indian team wasted numerous penalty corners, including during the Asian Games.

"We are always looking to improve," said Janneke Schopman. "The penalty corner is still an important part of the game. Rupinder (Pal Singh) is a very experienced and very good drag-flicker. Luckily, he made some time for us. He has done that in the last year as well."

33-year-old Rupinder was one of the stars in the Indian squad during the Tokyo Olympics. Regarded as one of the best drag flickers in the country, Rupinder represented India in 223 matches. He crucially scored four goals during India's medal run. He took retirement from international hockey right after.

"It is a great help for the junior drag flickers and the junior women's team as well. He (Rupinder) is helping them when he is there. Especially for Gurjit, Deepika (Soreng) and Grace in the past. He (Rupinder) also knows what it is to be at the top of the circle with the years of experience he has," said 46-year-old Dutch.

Indian women's hockey team needs to finish among the top three in the Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in order to cut for the Paris 2024. The side is considered one of the favourites for the tournament with familiar conditions and crowd support.